Mafia Blamed For Massacres

Northern Advocate, 3 May 1947, Page 7

Mafia Blamed For Massacres

(Rec. 10.45 a.m.) LONDON, May 2. Labour organisations in Palermo blame the “Mafia” secret society, which Mussolini claimed he had stamped out, for the massacre yesterday at a village near Palermo of people going to a May Day meeting says Reuters Palermo correspondent. The revised casualty list is eight killed and 29 wounded through machine-gun fire from ambush. Police cordoned off the area and detained 30 persons. A general strike is likely to be proclaimed in Sicily as a protest against the massacre. In Rome today Communist and Right Wing deputies fought each other in a 15-minute melee after Communists called Right Wing deputies assassins and accused them of organising the Sicilian May Day massacre. MAY DAY OBSERVANCES May Day was observed in parts ol Europe and America with parades and speeches. In Moscow, M. Stalin attended the May Day parade in Red Square. Heavy tanks, armoured cars and regi.ments of guards passed through the square, and fighters and bombers flew overhead. Moscow radio gave a Soviet Order of the Day calling upon the armed forces to maintain fighting preparedness at all times. The May Day parade in New York was marked by posters directed at the defeat of pending anti-labour legislation and President Truman’s programme of aid to Greece, Turkey and China. The slogans “Let the Greek people decide their own destiny,” "Hitler cried ‘Red’ and democracy was dead,'’ and "Free Spain Now” were characteristic of the posters. It is estimated that 100,000 people took part in the march. They gathered later in Union Square, where they heard speakers, including the negro singer, Paul Robeson. Roman Catholics throughout the United States, Canada and Hawaii joined in special prayers “for the Russion people and for the millions living in Communist-dominated lands.”